We had a very rainy and cool summer. Almost no one's brugs bloomed. Since I'm 1000 feet higher than town, I had even less luck. But my sister-in-law once told me that when it got close to frost time, and you had green tomatoes, to tug on the plants until you had loosened the roots just a tad. That would send them into a tailspin of trying to grow and ripen the last tomatoes to continue the species.
I decided to try this method on my brugs. About 4 days ago, I gave all but one a serious tug, until I felt and heard a few roots give. It rained right afterwards, so they were not badly damaged. Today I noticed that ALL had set buds except the one I didn't pull.
Anyone ever heard of this? Am I imagining this worked?
Tough Love
It's just as likely that they just responded to cooler weather. But it's quite possible, since in the face of natural or man-made disasters, people tend to do the same thing. Really!
There are many ways to stress tomatoes to get them to ripen and yes, it does work. It would not surprise me if it worked on the brugs.
Jeanette
lagata, they had the cool weather all summer and wouldn't bloom. It's cool here all summer anyway, but much more so this year with perpetual rain and overcast skies.
Thanks, Jeanette. I would love to see what monika, kell, Brugie and some of the others would think of this. I felt like I had assaulted them, lol.
ah, somehow I dismissed the cool/wet part. Subconscious thing I suppose, hot and horrible as it's been in most places. Sounds like you have hit on something interesting. I wonder how often it would work without hurting the plant? Tomatoes growers (same family after all) may have the best info on the method. I'm glad you've tried/asked about it!
Very interesting. I wonder if doing that would make pods ripen more quickly. Sometimes when I see a brug posted on here full of blooms but no leaves, I think it is the plants way to try to have its kind survive. I bet you are onto something, Betty.
There was a forestry class somewhere in NC that conducted an experiment: on half the seedling planted they gave them a big of a tug every week, on the other half, they didn't. Those they tugged grew much faster and healthier than the others. Stands to reason.
We have a very tall tree growing here all over...tall and narrow. The prevailing winds are from the E, ENE and ESE. When the freak winds come from the West...we have downed trees all over the place.
I go along with Woodspirits experiment and believe it was the survival mode kicking in....just like the nipping of the top of a seeding about 4' high, produces a Y and I have blooms on an 11 month old seedling (5 of them).
My 2 cents.
How are brugs related to tomatoes?
Family- Solanaceae.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Solanaceae/none/none/cultivar/20
Brugmansia and Tomatoes are in the same family.
A Very Large Family. LOL
I think this will help.
Boy, you're not kidding it's a big family. Thanks Kin.
You know, I never knew brugs and tomatoes were in thesame family, That is so strange. one being toxic and all LOL. Learn something new every day. That would be a good research project. Tugging on the plants to see if they set bloom. Mine didn't bloom well at all, but now that it's cooler their all setting bloom and maybe they'll bloom before frost, their all in the greenhouse. I do think they like cooler weather. But since you've had it all along, this is a good thing to follow.
kathy
I'm not sure of everything. There is a lady who has a wonderful garden right behind the courthouse in town and she had the 1st brugs I ever saw. Her's always bloomed well, but yes, a bit late in the season. However, they were much later this year except for one. I intend to find out which one it is and get cuttings if I can. I don't know her well, but I do know her sister-in-law intimately, so she will help me. I'll let y'all know.
Wow, that's cool, Woodspirit. I am learning lots today on Dave's. I will give some a tug and not others to have a comparison. Of course, if this works, I will want to tug every plant in my garden for one last round. Woohoo!
My brugs like fall and spring, I don't blame them, so do I. Earlier in the growing season limbs broke many of my seedlings, several Yed in the exact spot broken. They were planted 2/22/05 and many are getting ready for their second flushes. A fat squirrel fell outta a tree right into my Eternity, I think, broke 1/3 of her into bits and she took off to the point that not many days later I had to look at her tag to see who she was.
My grandfather had lots of fruit and nut trees. I'm not sure exactly when this was done, but if they didn't look like they were growing properly, my daddy was sent around with a baseball bat to hit them and 'wake them up'.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/435691/ Here is a thread that has some of the same kind of info in it Sherry. Go down to about June 8 at 1:06 PM. I think your grandfather knew what he was doing.
Yup, Ol Jerry Baker recommends beating the tree trunks with a large rolled up newspaper,
he says it's to get the sap flowing better.
ROFL, I can just see me out in the early morning with my robe on and beating on my fruit trees.
I surely wouldnt use a bat tho.
Surely the neighbors would call the Funny Wagon ;-)
It is smart not to knock procedures that one hasn't tried. As a last resort, I whacked a dead crepe myrtle and it amazingly came back to life and was covered with new growth, and is now standing right next door to Kell's 10ft seedling that is blooming as we speak. I've 'knocked' and wished I hadn't - such a dummy, I was! I had poison ivy 'all my life' - well, until I was 55. My daddy always told me to put household bleach on a Q-tip and 'paint' the spots. But, stupid me, I selected to go to the doc and take the injection, followed by the 10 day cure or whatever it was, and gave them whatever $50, $60, $75 bucks on my way out. When I was 55, I had an awful case of poison ivy and had to go to a wedding later in the week - as a LAST resort, I dipped a Q-tip in household bleach and 'painted' my spots. Amazingly, it stopped itching immediately, and after maybe three more 'paintings', the poison ivy dried up and disappeared and it didn't cost a dime, I already had the bleach. Hidden advantage - I've never had poison ivy again. Wish it worked with mosquitoes, eh??!!
This message was edited Oct 12, 2005 8:19 PM
Good idea? Bad idea??? I think I'm going to give it a try on un seen blooms this year. What would I have to lose? LOL
My Grandmother always used to tap on her fruit trees etc with a rolled up newspaper when I was a little girl. Hadn't thought about that in a long time.
Look out plants, here comes Linda with her newspaper.
This has turned out to be a useful and amusing thread. Thanks to all of you.